Creating An Essay For Academic Skills Development Plan.

Strengths

I feel I have made considerable progress in various areas of my work. The first one being my reference lists – this was something I found difficult before EAP 1, however; I feel confident doing this now. Some of my other strengths are my IT skills, oral presentations and time management. My time management skills are very important because I have to manage my studies, a job and 2 young children.

Weakness

Some of my weaknesses and areas of improvement are in-text citations. This is because sometimes I may not input them correctly or sometimes miss them out completely although I reference the source(s) in my bibliography. Another area for improvement is linking my ideas effectively – although I have several ideas brainstormed, when I have to articulate them in a paragraph, they may not make sense although I know what I want to say.

Target

Goal

Action

Success Criteria

Completed by?

e.g.

To have clear paragraphs

 To produce an outline before writing

The reader can identify the topic/ideas of those paragraphs

August 2018

1

To input my in-text citations correctly.

Read other essays to understand where in-text citations go.

Match up the in-text citations for all refences.

Ensure I include citations for all sources.

August 2018

2

To have a clear, strong introduction

Look at other introductions and practice writing different introductions, making sure it makes sense.

Make sure my introduction is clear and straight to the point.

Get feedback from my tutor.

End of July 2018

3

Have clear ideas which are linked effectively

Brainstorm ideas and see the similarities and differences.

Check all ideas make sense by reading over it several times and get my tutor to revise my work.

August 2018

PORTFOLIO TASK

Week 3: Organising your ideas: Are my sources reliable?

Source 1

Source 2

Who wrote/said it?

Chloe Spencer - Student

Emerald Publishing Limited

Are they qualified to speak on this topic?

No, she is a 15 year old student who was undertaking her GCSE’s at the time of the article.

I strongly believe that they are as they actively support research and education worldwide, working closely with a number of academic and corporate organisations.

Do they have a personal interest in that issue?

Yes, she has a personal interest in this issue because she herself has to wear a school uniform.

Yes, they show a great interest on their page about education, creating new ideas that would advance the research and practice of business and management.

What type of source is it?

Newspaper Article.

Article.

Has it been verified in any way? Can it be proved?

No

Yes

Is there evidence to support this claim?

Yes, she has put in facts and figures on the approximate amount of children who miss school per day in the USA due to fear or intimidation of the pressure of having to wear their own clothes in case of bullying etc.

Yes I believe so, as there are 9 reliable references at the end of the article which support their claims.

Was the source created to persuade, sell, entertain, inform or for another purpose?

To persuade other children of her age group why wearing a uniform is a good thing.

To inform teachers how to deal with dishonest students and how to enforce the importance of integrity when it comes down to work in order to prevent plagiarism etc.

Is the content relevant to your research?

No, it was a Student Blog for a newspaper but I thought it was useful to use because it’s a good example of how some academic sources can be seen as biased.

Yes, it is very informative about the importance of integrity and why students may not show integrity sometimes. But, advises on how to encourage integrity to the students. 

When was it published/last updated?

It was published on the 3rd October 2013.

It was published in September 2017.

Does this impact its relevance or objectivity?

No, although some of the facts and figures in the article may have changed since it was published almost 5 years ago.

No as it seems like a reliable source that gives a great deal of information about the topics discussed.

PORTFOLIO TASK

Week 4-9: Organising your ideas: Noting down the main points

Say why this is a key issue (e.g. Point 1/ Point 2)

(this is your topic sentence)

What is the counter-argument of this issue?

(this is the opinion you do not agree with)

What is the main argument if this issue?

(this is your opinion)

Why is your argument stronger than the counter-argument?

What evidence/examples do you have to support this?

What can you conclude from this? What are the implications?

Professional integrity is essential to students’ university life and career. Discuss

A professional might be described as a person who might display the ability to deal with the matters pertaining to the adoption of and the application of the knowledge, the values and the skills that are needed for the success in the concerned profession. The integrity of an individual might need to deal with the matters that pertain to the willingness and the consistency of the concerned person to act according to the various moral values and the social standards that have been maintained within the society (Cox, La Caze and Levine 2018). The professional integrity thereby highlights the matters that pertain to the willingness and the consistency of the concerned member of the workforce of the organisation to abide by the ethical code of the conduct that has been set by the concerned organisation as well as the mission statement of the concerned organisation (Roff et al. 2015). The following essay tends to deal with the matters that pertain to the professional integrity that needs to be depicted within the various academic institutions. The essay puts forth the arguments both for and against the essentiality of the professional integrity as depicted by the students in their and life in universities.

The professional integrity for a student refers to the matters that pertain to the abiding by the rules and the ethical codes that have been set out by the concerned university (Ozga and Lawn 2017). This might help the students in bringing about a betterment in the matters that pertain to the overall development of the concerned student. The maintenance of the professional integrity of the students within the given university might lead to the conditions wherein the concerned students might be expected to be abiding by the rules and the regulations of the university. The students are further expected not to lie or be untrue to their peers or even the educators. The students might also be expected to deal with regard the various issues that pertain to the safety and the dignity of the various fellow students, the peer groups and the supervisors or the educators who have been employed at the schools (Babelli, Chandratilake and Roff 2015). The integrity of the various students within the university might help them to develop their own mentality as well as the integrity of their own self (Guraya, Norman and Roff 2016).

The professional integrity is necessary to be maintained within the work-life of the employees. This might help the employees to gain success in the concerned field thereby helping the member of the workforce to reap the benefits of the practice of integrity (Morrow 2018). The employers are observed to be seeking the quality of professional integrity among the numerous potential employees who have been selected for the employment within the concerned organisation. Thus, it might be opined that the professional integrity of the students as developed during his university and college days might help in the various matters that are related to the employment of the concerned students after their academic careers.

On the other hand, a certain section of the experts tends to look into the habit of the academic integrity might not be playing as great a role as discussed within the concerned industry wherein the student might seek employment. These experts opine that the employment of the concerned student might not be based on the integrity that was displayed in the academic fields. The students might need to display the professional integrity that is in accordance to the ethics and the work culture that is maintained within the concerned field of work. These might be different from the various ethical factors that have been instilled in the students from the courses that they might have attended at the universities and colleges (Biesta 2015).

The professional integrity is one of the virtues that might be developed by the concerned employee. However, the rigidity of the professional integrity that needs to be maintained might vary from one industry to the other due to the changes in the work culture and the diversity that might exist within the business organisation wherein the individual might have been employed. The work culture within a multinational organisation might vary on the basis of the territorial area wherein the company has been operating. The professional integrity that is developed within the academic life of the concerned student might not be applicable in the concerned professional field wherein the student might seek employment (Bell 2015). Thus, it might be opined that the practice of the professional integrity might not be applicable in the actual field of employment of the concerned student.

In lieu of the above discussion, it might safely be concluded that the professional integrity within the students at the various universities might be a matter of huge importance in the shaping of the mentality and the attitude of the concerned employees. The experts suggest that willingness and the consistency of the concerned the integrity among the students might refer to the following of the proper dress codes and the maintenance of the time schedules that have been set by the concerned authorities. However, the students might face situations at the workplace that are different from the various ethical factors that have been instilled in the students from the courses that they might have attended at the universities and colleges. Thus, it might be suggested that the concerned students need to maintain the flexibility of adaptation to the work culture within the university as well as the given workplace.

Reference List

Babelli, S., Chandratilake, M. and Roff, S., 2015. Recommended sanctions for lapses in professionalism by student and faculty respondents to Dundee Polyprofessionalism Inventory I: Academic Integrity in one medical school in Saudi Arabia. Medical teacher, 37(2), pp.162-167.

Bell, E., 2015. A room with a view of integrity and professionalism: personal reflections on teaching responsible conduct of research in the neurosciences. Science and engineering ethics, 21(2), pp.461-469.

Biesta, G., 2015. What is education for? On good education, teacher judgement, and educational professionalism. European Journal of Education, 50(1), pp.75-87.

Cox, D., La Caze, M. and Levine, M.P., 2018. Integrity and the fragile self. Routledge.

Guraya, S.Y., Norman, R.I. and Roff, S., 2016. Exploring the climates of undergraduate professionalism in a Saudi and a UK medical school. Medical teacher, 38(6), pp.630-632.

Morrow, L., 2018. Academic Integrity Outreach: supporting high school students for success in higher education. Canadian Perspectives on Academic Integrity, 1(1), pp.6-8.

Ozga, J.T. and Lawn, M.A., 2017. Teachers, professionalism and class: A study of organized teachers. Routledge.

Roff, S., Druce, M., Livingston, K., Roberts, C.M. and Stephenson, A., 2015. Mapping norms of academic integrity as an aid to proactive regulation. Journal of Medical Regulation, 101(3), pp.24-31.